


Dance of the Water Seraph

by SilverKitsune



Series: The Years Between [3]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M, post game spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 12:26:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8208013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverKitsune/pseuds/SilverKitsune
Summary: For Mikleo, absence just means finding another way to remember.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this [super short anonymous ask on my tumblr](https://soymilkheaven.tumblr.com/post/151323931636/oldermikleo-in-high-heals). First came my sketched out response, and then this drabble started writing itself in my head less than an hour later. So anon, wherever you are out there, I hope you got to see both my answer and this drabble. Also inspired by the piano part of "The Melody of Water Guides the Way" (aka the Lefay Shrine theme, aka the water shrine theme, aka the only reason I didn't throw my controller at the screen when I was doing that dungeon) where it really does sound like dancing water droplets.

Armatizing with Rose, he realizes, is very different from armatizing with Sorey. Whereas Sorey never quite seemed to lose his sense of wonder (he always did gush about how much he loved being able to use seraphic artes while armatized), Rose is more business like. She always thanks him afterward, much like she does with the others, but he misses the way it always felt like Sorey was giving him a hug as they separate.

So when he sees a pair of heeled boots in a shoe store that resembles the ones he and Sorey used to wear in their armatus while they were passing through Pendrago one day, he asks Rose to buy them for him. At first she seems puzzled at his request, but upon seeing the boots in question, she asks for his shoe size and silently goes into the shop to make the purchase. To his surprise, the others remained silent as well, although he supposed they couldn't have missed the resemblance.

It isn't until they are well out of town, and camping near a lake that he actually wears them for the first time. A full moon is all the light he needs, and before long, he is walking out onto the water, the familiar feel of the boots playing back memories of his time spent armatized with Sorey. On a whim, he starts dashing across the lake's surface, stepping to avoid imaginary attacks, and for lack of a better alternative he summons his staff, holding it like a bow. The grip isn't quite the same, but with a few water manipulation tricks, he can at least pretend that he's using those same hidden artes now, Sorey's voice echoing in his mind in unison even as he whispers the names into the still night air.

He stops only when he sees the false dawn approaching, and returns to camp. He's exhausted, having spent most of the night using his artes and dashing across the lake, but it's the best he's felt in months. If the others or Rose notice his exhaustion or absence over the course of the night, they say nothing, although Lailah gives him a knowing look and a big hug the following morning, and Zaveid makes a few extra dumb jokes and throws his arm around his shoulders a few more times that day. As for Edna, well, she takes a few extra jabs at him with her umbrella that day, and gives him yet another new nickname (Yawnleo) to go with the other ones she's come up with lately (like Sappyleo).

* * *

 When they finally reunite, centuries later, it's an occasion marked by tears, hugs, and kisses. The full moon is beautiful tonight, and the lake they're passing by is perfect for what he wants to do.

“Sorey, do you mind if we stop here for a moment? I have something I want to show you. Wait here.”

He knows Sorey's confused when he pulls on the heeled boots, well cared for and loved over the centuries, but that confusion turns into a look of pure wonder and adoration as he walks out into the lake and dances with water and staff alike. It's taken him centuries to perfect it, this dance to the rhythm of nothing, accompanied by water streams and droplets in the air, but by the time he finishes, it's clear Sorey's figured out just where it came from.

Sorey's waiting for him, arms spread wide open for a hug when he walks back onto the shore.

As he walks into the familiar embrace, Sorey whispers into his ear,“Next time, let me join you.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> For the curious, I envision adult-Mikleo's dance to be something akin to Chinese martial arts dances that are usually performed with melee weapons, except with his staff standing in for a bow and streams/droplets of water everywhere because he's a water seraph and he can do stuff like that, haha.


End file.
